The Agent in Black and The Traveling Artist
by Itzago-Lukia
Summary: Xianghua is abducted from Maxi and Kilik, during a furious battle with Grøh. Due to her gentle nature she can't help but to take pity on her wounded captor. Perhaps an unexpected romance may blossom? A Grøh x Xianghua story.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer

I do not own Soulcalibur or any of its characters. I'm not making a profit from this.

Greetings world and all who inhabit! I'd like to thank anyone who reads this. So this fic has been in the making for quite some time now. It was supposed to have been released on the day that Soulcalibur VI came out, buuuuuttttt…..yeah had to focus on my studies. Anyway, the title is a work in progress and I will change it if I can, just a heads up.

If anyone wants to leave a comment with a suggestion for a better title, it would be very much appreciate, cuzz boy am I stumped. Again I would like to thank anyone who reads this (even if you hate it!). I plan on updating this regularly, perhaps once or twice a week.

There will be a lemon in later chapters, so stay tuned for that! And without further dudes, please enjoy this fic!

Chapter 1 –

Zero Hour

Though the night was already in its darkest phase, the light that palpable aura emanating from the two warriors locked in battle made the surrounding area look like chrysanthemum hued sunset. Xianghua attempted to look through wincing eyes at the battle that caused the ground to tremble beneath her.

The earthy brown eyes that had gazed at her full of hope, worry, joy, and longing, were now glowing like a sword straight out of a forge. Burning like the air around them. His hair that matched his eye's intensity. Hair as fine as the most exotic silks and rich with the color of fallen leaves—was now wild moving with a mind of its own and tinged in what seemed to be a paradox. Dark and light in the same instance.

The lips that had met hers just a night before in gentle union were seething and twisted into an expression, she thought it would be impossible for him—Kilik—to make. He was feral, berserk, almost breathing fire it seemed. Even the Kali-Yuga seemed to coated with a tainted aura. Swinging it left trails that seemed to make the air spark and flicker.

She could almost see his tunnel vision vicariously with how intently he was focusing on his current center of attention. A man with that seemed to match his aura, though not through ferocity. There was something more collected and practiced about it. Regardless of how his double ended sabre seem to clash with the now sparking Kali-Yuga, he kept the same expression on his face. While Kilik seemed like he was in constant pain. This agony mixed with his rage to make something tangible around him.

In the face of the red glow the two warriors were giving off, Xianghua was able to spot a quick jet of darker red that spattered beneath and behind Kilik. The white-haired man's blade had gotten through. This battle had been going on for too long. She had to do something, at this point Kilik was more animal than man, there was no technique to his swings and attacks. He was relying purely on instinct alone and the scowler was getting the upper hand. Kilik was going to die if she didn't act quickly. A cough coming from her lap reminded her. Oh yes, Maxi had been injured by Kilik, trying to help quell his rage and Xianghua was holding him.

"Go…He needs you…he's just fuckin' swingin' out there. The last bit of finesse he had, he used own me—"He punctuated his sentence with a chuckle that turned to another ragged cough. "I'll be alright, really. But please, Xianghua, be careful. He doesn't recognize us or hell, even if he does, he doesn't care. He may be flailing around like a child having a tantrum but if he connects its gonna hurt. He's incredibly powerful. Now go, he's losing more of himself. Get him back." With that, Maxi closed his eyes.

"SSSSSHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!" The piercing scream from Kilik seized her attention. This time she saw one of the cuts Kilik had been delivered by the stranger, near his ribs. She lowered Maxi's head to the ground gently before checking under his nose for breath and putting her hand over his chest for a heartbeat. Both were there. Good. Maxi was right SHE needs to get Kilik back, no her Kilik back.

With the Krita-Yuga in hand, rushed over to the man she was falling in love with. Flowing like water, leaving behind tears in wake. What was she to do? Try to take on the stranger with Kilik and get the man to flee. Try to subdue and clam, Kilik? Would the man still press on his assault? She couldn't decide. She let her heart guide her. That resonated with the Krita-Yuga.

"KILIK, PLEASE STOP THIS!" She called out him with more tears blurring her vision. The men were swinging for each other and just before the Kali-Yuga could meet with Aerondight Replica, Xianghua was there in between them. To the men in the throes of battle, it appeared that she had emerged out of the shadows. Her speed had been so tremendous it took both warriors by surprise, but they were at the point of no return. Their swings were about to clash.

Angling the Krita-Yuga in an upward motion to intercept both attacks, Xianghua had also put herself in grave danger. In the moment right before all three weapons met each other, the Krita-Yuga changed shape, in that millisecond. Soul Calibur revealed itself, to protect its wielder. A clash the likes of which none of them had never seen had transpired. The blinding light was the first thing to be produced from such a powerful ménage à trois.

Second came a shock wave and ripple of other worldly energy, that reached far below the surface the ground. In fact, the energy cleaved trees, the ground, and even the clouds above in twain. The power pushed back Kilik and had opened the mouth of the earth– a chasm that glowed with molten rock. Xianghua's footing was beginning to give and she would have been introduced to magma, had it not been for the efforts of Grøh. She almost fell in, but he had grabbed the back of her collar and pulled her near him, wrapping a muscled arm around her thin waist.

Xianghua looked up behind her and blushed, her impending 'thank you' being interrupted by a switch strike to her neck, knocking her unconscious. Magma jumped from the crevice between Grøh and Kilik. Grøh picked up Xianghua and put her over his shoulder like a sac of potatoes. He stared down his rival, who at the sight of seeing a passed out Xianghua was at last beginning to come to. "Outsider, I have your traveling companion. Our fight has been put on hold. Heal and come after me again. I'll leave you clues on where to find me."

On his knees and bleeding out, Kilik used all his strength left to reach his hand out and call to her. What had he done? He tried focusing his wavering eyes, but double vision had already set in. Two separate Xianghua's and strangers he saw, they almost over lapped, though the more he lost strength the further the two mirrored images grew apart. The last thing he saw before a plum of lava was spewed from the valley dividing him from them, was one of the Xianghua's he saw began to transform to Xianglian. "It shouldn't be like this, Xianglian.", was all he was able to utter before passing out.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer

I do not own Soulcalibur or any of its characters. I'm not making a profit from this.

* * *

Chapter 2

Day 1

The world came to her, bouncing and swaying. Perhaps its motion sickness and or maybe she got hit a little too hard. Xianghua knew that her body was still yet she felt motion. Before she had even opened her eyes she felt an arm over her lower back and something round and hard pressed against her belly. She realized she was being carried…over someone's shoulder? Finally the young woman from the Ming Empire opened her eyes, almost blinded by the light. She saw she was suspended from the ground fairly high.. Dark legs covered in cloth, leather, and armor, in that order walked beneath her.

Looking over she took in the heavily muscled, scarred arm holding a multicolored sword. Around that same shoulder was familiar strap connected to her ration bag, dangling near the sword. Then memory hit her hard enough to make her lightheadedness become a heavy headache. The fight, Kilik, that man. She was in the clutches of the stranger. Xianghua started kicking frantically. She tried to beat his back with her roped hands.

"Put Me DOWN!" She commanded, kicking her legs as if she were swimming.

"No…", was all she had gotten in return, from all her effort.

"What do you mean, No? Is this any way to treat a lady? Where are you taking me!? Put me DOWN NOW! I'll keep kicking you!"

"Exactly as I said. That is not of my concern. To shelter. No, you cannot be trusted and you would be much more dangerous on your feet. Your struggling doesn't make you any harder to carry. You haven't gained back all your strength and you were heavier as dead weight."

"HEAVY?! ARE YOU CALLING ME FAT?" was all that she took from his vary precise and matter of fact answers. No response this time. "Well could you at least put me down for a second, I need to—" Her embarrassment made her cease.

"Vomit? Urinate? Defecate?" He said in the same matter of fact manner.

"THE SECOND ONE!" Xianghua yelled through a blush. "It would also be nice to not have my butt by your face."

"Fine—" He stopped walking and placed her down and did a quick scan of their surroundings. "But don't try anything stupid nor go too far. I don't know what dwells here."

Xianghua turned even redder, "I don't want you to hear me pee." She almost whispered. She took a look her surroundings first. Trees. Greenery, and patches of dirt here and there. After closing her eyes, breathing deeply and collecting herself, she turned to her captor, "Hey what is—" and yet another realization hit her. She hadn't seen him up close before. The magenta energy emanating from him last night was gone. The flecks of red were gone from his tousled hair, now replaced with blue that was stepping into indigo. The wild spiked hair, now rested, relaxed.

She was expecting a much harsher face, but stood corrected. The young man's face was quite soft, maybe even handsome. His facial features were very gentle, thin lips, a perfectly centered and sized nose, long eye lashes. This face almost perfectly symmetrical, save the scars on the left side. Heck, the harshest things about his face was the permanent scowl and aforementioned scars over his left eye.

Though his eyes squinted in a stern stare, they were still somewhat large for a man's and the steel color looked nice too. A strong jaw curved gracefully shaping his visage. In another life she could see him as a pretty boy, constantly maintaining his looks, his whole world trapped in a mirror. A real lady killer. His skin was pale, much paler than Kilik's, although it wasn't pallid.

"Well are you going to relieve yourself?" Her eyes shot open at his question, snapping her out of her daze and the blush that was settled at her cheeks pervaded her entire face. She turned and stomped her way to a seclusive spot. The task was going to be a little difficult with her hands tied.

When the deed was done, she followed her footsteps. I thought came to mind, observe him. Find a weakness. Though at the moment she planned on cooperating for now, she knew had and desired to get back to Kilik. Part of her thought 'I might have to go through him to get back to Kilik and Maxi.', but there was another part of her, 'If he wanted to hurt me he would have killed me. More so, he wouldn't have saved me from falling into the earth'.

Xianghua tucked herself behind a tree deciding to observed him just to be safe. He had opened his jacket to assess his wounds. It had appeared he was made of marble, sculpted and white. His obliques were etched hard into the stone of his torso, abdominals just as prominent. The chiseled serratus anterior framed and gave the impression of holding it all the muscles of his core in place. As he turned to check his other side, the muscles rippled as if they could barely be contained.

His snowy skin had been peppered with blotches of blues and purple. Her eyes honed in on the biggest spot on him, at his lower right ribs. The bruise looked ghastly, she was surprised he had been carrying her with injuries like these. Despite having the upper hand in their bout, Kilik had manage to really rough him up. She assumed if Kilik would have landed more hits the fight it would have been the other way around. He stood adjusting and Xianghua's eyes followed the outer lines of his abs straight down to that natural 'v' at his hips.

A shaky sigh escaped the lady warrior's lips. After mentally slapping herself, Xianghua's inner-voice called out to her, 'What are you doing?!' Gawking over a guy who kidnapped her. Who saved her from falling into a burning trench. Who took her away from her friends, who took her away from and hurt Kilik. He had moved his holster back into position covering his ribs—his obliques—and skin that had been stained with bruises. The peep show was over.

She stepped from behind the tree. "What took you so long?" He asked buttoning his jacket and getting an additional rope out. He began to walk over to her.

"Well it's a little hard when my hands are all tied up." She looked up and said to the man tying a rope around her makeshift cuffs. Her head was angled up staring intently at the brooding man an entire foot taller than she.

"I will not carry you anymore. You will walk behind me and I'll hold this rope to make sure you won't escape."

"If I wanted to escape then I would have just a second ago." She argued.

"No, you wouldn't've. You would wait until I'm least expecting." Damn, he's sharp. "But the problem is, I'm always expecting." They started to walk.

"Ugggghhhh I'm so hungry!" Xianghua wined. Can you at least untie my hands for a second so I can get a snack from my…Wait a minute when I was passed out did you go into my sack? DID YOU TAKE MY MOONCAKE?" Grøh only ignored her in, not even giving her a cursory glance. "I swear, if there you ate my mooncake you will regret it!" Still nothing out of him. After several hundred steps in silences, Xianghua finally said. "Why all this? Why did you save me? Why did you take me?"

"As trigger for the outsider. He cares for you. I will neutralize him when he goes berserk again."

"Why?"

"He is corrupted. Tainted by the evil seed. The staff he wields is giving off similar energy signatures as soul edge itself…It may become another Soul Edge."

This shocked her. Could the Kali-Yuga really become another Soul Edge? One was causing enough strife. She decided act nonchalant, "Speaking of weapons. What did you do with my sword?" She asked.

"I threw it across the divide to the outsider. When he comes for you, he will bring it."

"Please don't do this." She stopped walking. He stopped a few steps ahead. "Kilik is strong. I know with time and with focus Kilik can purge himself of this evil energy. He's kind and gentle. He not only fights the malfested, but he is looking for a way to help them. To bring the people and creatures that have transformed to normal. So please, what he is working for is for the better of our world."

"All outsiders will be eliminated." He said, his expression unchanging.

'What's with this guy? Is he an animated statue? He hasn't made any other face regardless of what he has said or physically felt. Is he that emotionless?' Xianghua thought to herself. Her next plea to him was interrupted by the sound of crushed leaves and twigs. Something was nearby.

Grøh pulled Xianghua in close to him. She put her back against his. Aerondight Replica was in hand, ready to cut down whatever was rattling the bushes a few meters way from him. Xianghua caught of glimpse of something moving from tree to tree. They were surrounded. "Untie me and let me fight with you. We can put our differences aside. You're hurt and I will be much more useful if I could use all my limbs."

"You cannot be trusted. Just stay behind me. I—" He was cut off by a green blur that blasted out from the bushes. It was stopped by a slash from the Nordic warrior. A lizard man had the dark end Aerondight Replica in jaws. The growling beast was then kicked away, by a firmly planted boot to the stomach by Grøh.

He turned his attention to other emerging Lizard men. He counted at least eight on his side, including the one he kicked. He heard a screech from behind and was about to react only to see Xianghua's leg go complete vertical, standing on her bound hands, to meet the rushing Lizard man under his snout with her small foot. Before it could hit the ground, Xianghua connected with a jumping spin kick, knocking it away. "Again. I don't plan on running away. I just want to leave her alive and preferably not chewed up." Four other Lizard men rushed toward them, dipping and weaving as to not make the same mistake as pack members.

"Duck!" Grøh command. Xianghua more than complied, her legs slid and opposite directions, executing splits that took her low to the ground. Grøh spun his double ended swords with a horizontal twist, the blades hissing as they moved through the air only to hit its targets slashing the Lizard men. Quickly, Xianghua balanced on her hands once more, inverting herself to bring her legs overhead, preforming her splits yet again to kick two of the slashed lizard men.

She got to her feet in a fluid motion to side step and deliver a swift kick to the next monster. The kick was a light tap to its head, stunning the beast, followed by an additional harder kick that sent it in Grøh's direction. It was quickly cut down in its stumble. The rest of the pack rushed at the warriors.

The fastest of the pack reached Grøh first with teeth, claws, and drool only to be caught by a diagonal slash. Xianghua spun her body in a horizontal twirl kicking one, landing low and ducked to have another go over her head. She pushed up with all her might, shooting the Lizard in towards Grøh. "Heads up!" Grøh acknowledged her set up cutting the beast in half. Grøh the motioned for Xianghua to run towards him. Without hesitation she ran up to him stepping on the joined hilt of Aerondight Replica and Grøh lunched her. She flipped and spun, gaining more momentum and landed with a drilling motion on the head of lizard man, with her outstretched leg.

Grøh dashed through a line of them and with a flick of his wrist opened they're bellies. As far as he could tell, that was the last of them. He made his way back toward Xianghua. They worked quite effectively together. She faced him and he looked at her, really looked at her for the first time. Her soft brown hair, like the bark of an oak tree, gentle in any light. Her clear big brown eyes that sparkled with innocence and a chipper lilt. Her small nose and mouth that was outlined thin upper lip and pouty bottom one. The heat of battle, put a spot light on her.

The blue dress hugged her form very well. His eye traced the gold trimming at the bottom of her dangerously short skirt, up to the leg slits. Then went to gold lining at the edge her half jacket, guiding his gaze to her slender neck. His attention then went south to the opening of the jacket to see the window of skin, the gentle convex curves of her breasts on display. She had sparked some sort of interest in him. An interest which he thought he had forgotten. He let himself stare a little longer before he pushed these 'impulses' down once more. Before completely diverting his eyes, he detected the faintest distortion behind her, some sort of shimmer.

Acting quickly Grøh tapped into his 'other' energy so much of which he used to fight the outsider the night before, it was in low supply. Although, he managed to get a flicker. His hair reddened and stood, then he was gone in a flash, teleporting behind Xianghua. He swung Aerondight Replica, but his arm was caught by the jaws of the pack leader. "Eghhhh" Grøh grunted at the pain and punched the shimmer with his free hand. Unbeknownst to Grøh, he was whaling on a chameleon like Lizard man, whose camouflage abilities went far beyond its nonanthropomorphic counterpart. It had managed to become mostly invisible, damn that evil seed. Damn that cult for creating these abominations.

He had saved her once again. Though, she didn't understand why. The chief dropped its camouflage and revealed its grotesque form. It was horned with bulging eyes moving independently, a large mouth dripping with light violet foam and lined with small, but extremely sharp teeth. Grotesque claws clenched around at Grøh's shoulders, holding him in place. It was much larger than the other Lizard men. It hissed and a sack dropped from its neck and inflated. At its apex size the sack was red, a glossy almost irritated looking red. It began to vibrate. A call to other Lizard men.

Grøh's grip on Aerondight Replica weakened. Right as Grøh lost the strength in his hands, dropping his double sabre, Xianghua caught it and quickly jammed it through the chief Lizard man. She twisted the sword then yanked it from his torso, spun the blades in an uppercut slashing its arms, and half of its snout off. Grøh sank down, almost doubling over luckily Xianghua was there to catch him. "We have to get out of here. Those vibrations sounded like it could be their version of a dinner bell. I've got you." She put his arm over her shoulder.

"There should be a stream nearby. We need to…follow…it" The world was beginning to warp around him. Colors shifted, smearing in the air. He put forth his best effort to ignore his symptoms. That damn lizard man had a venomous bite. The colors of the world around him began to bleed into one another. He collapsed. Her face was the last thing he saw, before it all went black.


End file.
